Mike's other main strength as an evil cartoonist is in tormenting the reader's with build up. When combined with a darkly sarcastic sense of humour this can lead to such moments as making the readers think his main character's haircut would be radically different (it was the same), and keeping his main characters in a closet for a week while a  monster lurked outside. He also willingly applies the same rigourous standards of evil to his characters, having spent day one tormenting his hero with everything from bullies to bad room swaps to hallucinating giant fruit!

Mike also has the rare accolade of tormenting his readers outside of the strip. When Keenspot ran a Bikinifest in the summer of 2000, who did Mike draw as his first submission? The overweight lonely geek character in a cape and speedos.

Some nights I still wake screaming from that memory.

Accepted for: Torturing readers with plot twists they didn't see coming
                        Tormenting characters with events beyond their control or enjoyment.
                        Torturing readers outside the strip using strip materials (special award)

Stands accused of: Everything Jake